


Standing Tall

by friendlyneighborhoodfairy



Series: FNF's Nonbinary Month fics 2019 [10]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Again, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Body Dysphoria, F/F, F/M, Intersex, Jaune Arc and Lie Ren are the epitome of non-toxic masculinity, Male Friendship, Poor Ren, Quickies, Ren gets caught in nothing but a towel, Scissoring, Trust, awkward saves from Nora, doors without locks, talking things out, yes that's a tag i've used multiple times now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 13:36:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20471888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendlyneighborhoodfairy/pseuds/friendlyneighborhoodfairy
Summary: {Nonbinary Month 2019 #10.} Ren and Nora's relationship is developing well, and Ren is learning more and more how to trust his girlfriend. His friends are a different story, however. Nora is still the only person who knows Ren is intersex.When Jaune walks in on Ren in only a towel, and won't take any hints about leaving the room, Ren has to resort to drastic action. Or rather, Nora has to resort to drastic action.Do not copy my work to other sites.





	Standing Tall

**Author's Note:**

> Intersex man + RWBY (Renora). Ren has PAIS.
> 
> Spoilers for a couple events in volumes 1-3. (Technically set in vol. 6, but you don't have to be caught up.)

Ren was finally comfortable putting his body in Nora's hands. Sure, it was over a year since they first made out, ten or so months since he let her see him and touch him—and for them to finally, not-as-tentatively-as-he-expected, have sex for the first time. But just because he'd done it with her, and liked it, didn't mean he had been able to be as casual about it as she was.

It'd helped that _she_ was casual about bodies, and his in particular, and all the ways he was different. Nora had had plenty of partners of all genders, and so his being a 'differently-assembled puzzle' didn't bother her.

Every time they slipped beneath the covers together, naked or close to it, and every time she fell asleep drooling on his chest, he beamed at the ceiling and wondered how he'd gotten so _fucking lucky._

Now he still felt lucky, but there was a sense of calm and normalcy about it. Like this was daily life. It had been over a year, and here they were. Still together, still helping each other through things. Sex was normal; her affection was normal; there were patterns and routines.

"What are you staring at?" she asked him, looking over with innocent curiosity that belied a mischievous grin.

"You," he said, and she beamed.

"You love me." Wrapping him in a headlock, she kissed his hair. Ren tried to be annoyed about her sudden weight dragging his shoulders down toward the bed, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

When they plopped down, her arms still around his neck, Nora swung quickly to straddle his legs and trap him there.

"Hah! I win."

"You do."

She stuck her tongue out. "You're no fun to tease. You're too sweet."

"Guess you'll have to cuddle me instead."

He snatched her hand, tugged, and got her falling on top of him with a laugh.

"Ren!" she snorted, but the pair of them laughed some more, and she leaned down to touch her nose to his.

"You're amazing and I like you a lot," she murmured.

When they kissed each other, Ren couldn't get over how perfect her mouth felt against his.

* * *

Ren had just stripped out of his shirt when the door opened behind him.

"You're back early," he commented, sliding his belt off.

"It doesn't take that long to put my nephew to sleep," Jaune said. "You just have to read him the right book."

Ren whirled, not at all expecting Jaune to enter Ren's and Nora's room without at least announcing himself. Thank gods Ren hadn't stripped out of his trousers. Shirtless was okay; it was the bottom half that made him anxious.

"Where's Nora?" he asked, for something to say.

"She's still out getting groceries with Terra." Yawning, Jaune flopped down on the bed.

Which was a little awkward, as he didn't know the extent of Ren and Nora's relationship and would probably not have laid there if he knew what they'd done on the bedspread that morning. But Jaune had an undaunted naïveté.

"Carry on," Jaune said, waving a hand. "Sorry, I didn't know you were headed out on a run."

"Back from one."

"Ah. Shower's down the hall. There are towels in the closet."

"Thank you."

Edging awkwardly out of the room, Ren exited with a shiver of relief.

* * *

When he returned from his shower, Jaune was still there. On his back, he had his scroll in hand and was thumbing through things listlessly.

Ren walked in with a towel around his waist and internally sighed.

"I was just going to change," he hinted helpfully.

After a second of no response, he turned to the closet, hoping the activity would give Jaune a bigger hint. Instead, Ren heard the door creak and then click shut. Jaune had closed it with his toe.

"Saphron saw me running around naked plenty as a child, but I figured you'd still want privacy," he explained, when Ren stared at him. With a wink, he added, "Although it's seriously fine; Saphron isn't the same orientation as Nora, remember?"

Ren closed his eyes to keep from rolling them. If only Jaune knew.

It occurred to him that he'd seen Jaune in complete undress before. Nora probably had too, and Ruby, and anyone else they'd travelled with. Jaune wasn't shy about nudity or his body—having so many siblings probably helped that. When he needed to change or strip down, he just did it.

He must've assumed it was a mutual comfort level.

What Ren hated was that he couldn't come up with a good excuse as to why he couldn't let Jaune see him in the same state of undress. Awkwardly moving about the room, he put away and pulled out things, keenly aware of the towel around his waist. He made it take as long as possible, hoping Jaune would be needed elsewhere, that some excuse would come up, that he could avoid this conversation.

The door banged open and Nora bounced into the room.

"Hey, Jaune!" she said as Ren took a moment to gather himself and turn around.

"How was grocery shopping?" Jaune asked.

"Your sister is a crackup." Nora's eyes skittered over to Ren, realization like a small electric spark. "I see where all the humor genes must've gone."

"Hey!"

"Jaune," Nora rode over him with a sweet smile. "I need to talk to Ren. Alone."

Jaune colored immediately, spluttering out half-phrases as he zoomed for the door. Ren heard a muttered, "Thought we set up a towel-on-the-door policy," as he went out.

"There," Nora said with a nod, hands on hips.

Exhaling, Ren let go of the towel and hurried to get trousers on—just in case Jaune or anyone else felt like barging in again.

"Hey, you," Nora smiled, cuddling up to his side and wrapping her arms around him before he could put a shirt on. "What's the rush?"

It was his turn to blush.

With the height difference between them, her head was just under his chin, her face curling naturally into the curve of his neck. Lips moved delicately on his shoulder, tempting, drawing him out of his anxiety.

"I know we don't have a ton of time," she said, "but…"

He twisted around so she was properly in front of him, leaning down to kiss her. To kiss her hard, and long, until she made a high-pitched noise of want and he kissed down her neck toward the top button of her shirt.

* * *

Having a passel of teammates and being in the wilderness for weeks at a time, they'd found ways to be quick and make the most of what little alone time they got.

Still in trousers, Ren was on the bed on his back, which was where Nora so often put him and where he didn't mind being. Her skirt was bunched up around her waist, his hands pulling eagerly at her hips and caressing her ass. She had a thigh between his legs and they were thrusting against each other like it was the last thing they'd do.

Pleasure curled in the hot room and both of them were panting hard, trying to be quiet but knowing if anyone were at the door they would hear.

Every thrust made Nora's breasts jolt above him. Ren leaned up and took one nipple in his mouth, teeth scraping gently over it, sucking hard. Nora nearly collapsed, leaning on one hand so she could put the other over her mouth. As his lips massaged over her, she groaned noises into her palm.

Ren grinned. He hadn't always been this confident, but knowing he could make her feel that way… Watching her react to his touches made him feel alive.

He moved his hands up and stopped beneath her breasts, feeling them jostle against his thumbs with Nora's erratic movements. He stayed there, beneath them, fingers moving back and forth over her skin. Nora reacted like his touch was an addiction and shifted down to bring herself into his hands—palms slipping over her nipples, feeling that warm weight.

He closed his eyes as he ran his thumbs over her nipples. Fuck, she was perfect.

Nora came first, grinding hard against his leg while she whimpered into his shoulder. His collarbone muffled some of the noises trying to come out of her mouth, but there was still m an audible note of pleasure. That sound which was uniquely Nora and nobody got to hear but him.

Her focus shifted slightly, pushing her leg tighter between his. When he gasped, she grinned broadly at him and ducked down to suck on his neck.

He came hard with mouth open, refusing to breathe lest he release all his joy in a groan.

"That was perfect," Nora said, and he couldn't agree more.

"I wish these doors had locks," he said.

* * *

Ren next ran into Jaune in the large dining room. For being a family of just three (so far—Jaune let slip that Saphron was pregnant), the house was spacious, and it gave Ren a sense of the Arc family philosophy: open-hearted, full of chatter, always expecting and prepared for guests. This house was meant for a large family, and the warmth of that dream seeped through the woodwork.

"Hey," Jaune stuttered, meeting his eyes and blushing before looking back down to strop his sword.

Plopping down beside him, Ren pulled out his weapons and decided now would be a good time to clean them. (Nobody was directly trying to kill them. What a novel thought.)

His hope was to make this encounter casual and natural so that future ones wouldn't be tainted by…well, Nora's exuberant display of sexual need.

"So, you, uh…" Jaune stammered before Ren could find a normal topic.

"Hm?" he replied, giving Jaune a mild look and hoping it conveyed his desire to be _regular friends the way we always have been._

Jaune's usual disdain for social cues continued, however.

"So you and Nora," he said.

"Yes," Ren said evenly. "We told you this."

They had. Had been going to tell the team, and then…

Then the team was just Jaune. It felt cruel to tell him, but it was crueler not to, and so they had, and Jaune had taken it in stride—had actually been genuine in his happiness for them. Said he'd wondered when they would get around to it, and spent the following weeks teasing them about silly things.

They had settled into a new normal as a team, and nothing had changed except that Nora slept with her head on Ren's chest at night.

"Yeah, but not—" Jaune spluttered and gestured wide, "not _that._ People don't generally tell others _that._"

"Then why are you asking?"

"Because it came up, and we're friends, and friends talk about that shit. Right? Who is getting laid by whom?"

Jaune gave Ren a please-save-me look, and Ren remembered Jaune's own sexual experience was nil.

"I don't know," Ren said. "Do they? I don't talk with most people."

"That's the truth," Jaune snorted, in something like their regular familiarity. "It's nice being a member of your family. Thank you for trusting me."

Taken aback, Ren looked at him with wide eyes.

"You _have_ a family," Ren said, in a louder voice than he intended. "A real one."

"Yeah, and I love them. But I love you guys too. And I'm glad you two are—you know, happy. Doing whatever you're doing. You guys are my family in a different way. My sisters don't…well, they don't know everything we've been through. But we've been through it together. That's why we'll always be friend-family. You, me, and Nora."

His smile was so open and honest that Ren felt a surge in his chest, like tears rising up to the surface.

"Yeah," he said.

They would be. Always.

"Jaune," he said. "I should tell you something."

Jaune's face grew very serious. "Yes?"

"I'm, uh…"

Ren inhaled. Then:

"Intersex."

The word. He did it. It hadn't been as hard as last time, either.

"What's that?" Jaune asked.

"It means I'm in between." Ren coughed.

"Like nonbinary?" Jaune interjected.

"No? I'm a dude."

A long pause.

"Okayyy…" Jaune prompted.

"I just don't have all the same parts," Ren stammered in a rush.

Jaune blinked. "Beg your pardon?"

"I don't…you know. Have all that same stuff." Ren waved his hand vaguely at Jaune. Goddammit, now Ren was the one blushing. "My body. It's different."

Jaune's eyes narrowed as he stared at Ren. "You look just like—"

"I'm good at passing," Ren said in a hard voice.

Jaune reacted heavily, jerking back.

Ren tried to rein in his tone. Ugh. He wasn't used to what anger felt like in his body, how to control it.

It wasn't anger at Jaune. This was at the world that forced there to be a thing called 'passing' at all. The idea that certain bodies meant certain genders, meant certain…traits? Roles? Whatever the hell gender meant. Ren only knew that in this society, he was a him. Whatever that meant.

"Being a gender has nothing to do with what's between your legs," he whispered through thin lips.

Jaune's hand on his shoulder had him jumping sky-high.

"You're absolutely right," Jaune smiled. He backed off a little, giving Ren sorely-needed breathing space, but his smile was still warm. "So why tell me?"

"Because you're my teammate?" Ren hazarded. "And a friend. And I should trust you. I do trust you. And so that, you know, awkward situations…"

"Oh!" Jaune's hand flew to his mouth. "Like earlier. I'm so sorry. I wasn't even thinking about that—I mean, I had no idea…"

"I get it," Ren said as firmly as his weak voice could muster. "You grew up with a thousand siblings and nobody wore clothes."

"I'd like to say that's an exaggeration," Jaune snorted, "but actually it's not totally wrong."

"Great way to learn anatomy, I guess. If everyone's just comfortable with everything."

"Yeah, it was. I never realized that until going to Beacon and hearing the outrageous things guys would say about girls'—about bodies with vajs. Dumb, dumb shit."

"Like what?" Ren chuckled. Jaune's correction from _girls' bodies_ to _vagina bodies_ warmed his heart.

"A surprising number of guys in our year thought people pee out of their vaj." Jaune rubbed his forehead and laughed. "Some thought orgasm wasn't really a thing if you didn't have a penis—the number of them who had never heard about a clitoris… I mean, it's not like I have experience, but I still know about clits! Gods, you'd think none of them had sisters or—or anything. Idiots. They'll make terrible lovers, all of them."

"Idiots," Ren agreed with a smile. "I did hear someone say once that all cunted people taste bad."

"What? Bullshit," Jaune said.

"It's total bullshit. People taste like people."

"Yeah." Jaune gave an awkward laugh. "I mean, I don't _know,_ but…"

"You know a hell of a lot more than people who _should_ know."

"Thanks," Jaune laughed. "I hope it puts me in good stead one day."

"I'm sure it will," Ren snorted. He thought about how Nora's vast dating experience—with many genders—was a boon and a blessing in the start of their relationship. She understood things, and helped him learn.

"Yeah," Ren said. "You're going to be okay."

They both would be.

**Author's Note:**

> Ren and Jaune are the most non-toxic images of masculinity I have ever seen in a show. xoxo
> 
> **Nonbinary Month 2019** may be officially over, but we've always accepted late entries! I still have a few stories to post for it, and we have a few more late contributors coming in too. Stay tuned.


End file.
